29 The Invasion

AN: This chapter has graphical content/religious sacrifices and many other things. If you are light-hearted, read at your own risk!!!

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Luck was on our side, a fog was covering the region and our advance was in silence. Even I wasn't expecting such luck but I guess the Gods were on our side. We docked close to the shore and I let the man rest until the night. Tonight, history was going to be rewritten, tonight Braavos was going to fall and tonight, the world was going to witness the power of the Old Gods.

By night, we got on a boat but there was only the Blackfyre boy and several singers with me. Yes, the singers were with me. At first, I was planning to use the prisoners from the war as sacrifices but then, the Blackfyre boy was captured and his blood was more valuable than an entire army.

I was either going to sacrifice those five thousand prisoners or sacrifice a boy of eleven years. The choice was easy and there was nothing to hesitate for. The boy was going to be sacrificed and a name was going to be crossed out from my list of enemies.

The boat moved towards Sellagoro's Shield as I paddled. My men and my ships were ready to sail out at any moment to sneak into the city with the speed of wind behind us so there was nothing to worry about.

Half an hour later, we arrived at the rocky shores of the island. I pulled the boy out of the boat. He was struggling to free himself so I punched him on his face and broke his nose.

"Don't spill the blood, it is precious," A singer said.

I nodded my head and looked at the boy who was still trying to escape. I grabbed him with both of my hands and lifted him and threw him over my shoulder. This way, it was easier to carry him.

"Where will we do it?" I asked.

"No need to go deep into the woods, we will do it here or else it would be hard to escape," said another singer.

One of the singers brought out a bowl full of weirwood paste but there was something strange about it because its colour was wrong. "What is that?" I asked.

"A drop of blood from every singer of the last seven centuries and the paste of a dead weirwood tree," she said as she took out a brush and slowly drew several different shapes on a big rock.

At first, there was nothing wrong but as soon as she connected those drawings to each other, they began to glow and she quickly put the bowl away and took a sharp knife from one of the singers and then turned to me, "Bring the boy, quick!"

I frowned at her reaction but still brought the boy to her. I pressed him to the drawing as the singer slowly put the knife on his throat and began speaking some foreign words, "Dùisg an fhuil, dùisg na diathan, dùisg an cumhachd, briseadh a 'chearcall!"

She slit his throat silent as life left the eyes of the boy. Her lifeless body lay on the cold stone but her spilt blood began boiling as soon as it touched the drawing.

The singer took back her knife but instead of stopping, she slit her hand and let the blood drop on the drawing. After a few seconds, she gave the knife to another singer and retreated back but continued to say the words.

"Dùisg an fhuil, dùisg na diathan, dùisg an cumhachd, briseadh a 'chearcall!"

The singer with the knife repeated her kin and slit her hand and let the blood pour out of her hand and gave it to another one. The same thing was repeated ten times as the ten singers cut their hands and repeated the words while letting their blood be the catalyzer for the doom of Braavos.

"Dùisg an fhuil, dùisg na diathan, dùisg an cumhachd, briseadh a 'chearcall!"

"Dùisg an fhuil, dùisg na diathan, dùisg an cumhachd, briseadh a 'chearcall!"

"Dùisg an fhuil, dùisg na diathan, dùisg an cumhachd, briseadh a 'chearcall!"

The words rang in my ears again and again but, suddenly, the glowing of the drawing ceased and a crack opened on the rock.

"It's done, we need to leave, come on!" The singers ran to the boat in hurry but I watched the crack in wonder as it began growing both in speed and strength. It was spreading towards the depths of the woods. I felt a chill running down my back as I looked at the dead boy and ran back to the boat without looking behind.

I paddled with all my strength as we moved away from the island. However, the water was moving towards the island itself like something was pulling it. My strength was not enough to fight against the force of the waves and we were slowly getting closer to the island.

Suddenly, water spurted from our behind and I felt something pushing us back to the ships. I turned around and saw a whale pushing us. It was probably one of my wargs who was helping us.

We safely reached my ship and while climbing to it, I turned my head to the island and saw a sight that I would never forget. The giant mountain was split into two parts and water was filling the gap between them; a gap that is enough to fill ten ships side by side.

I climbed to the ship and watched the water filling the gap for an hour. Finally, when the waters were still, I turned to one of the sailors and told him to pull the flag and give the order to move in.

Nearly three hundred ships moved at full speed and passed from the narrow strait. However, I left some ships at the mouth of the strait to prevent it from being blocked by Braavosi ships and cut off our escape route, in case something unexpected happens.

The faces of the sailors and soldiers on my ship were priceless and I could already feel the gawking looks of the lords at the wonder I made possible. Although it happened with the death of a child, it was going to save thousands of lives from dying pointlessly.

Thanks to his sacrifice, our fleet moved like an arrow fired from its bow and reached Ragman's Harbour. Mine was the first ship to reach the shore and my sword was the first one to spill blood.

My men quickly cleaned the harbour as screams rose in the naked city. There were few guards in this part of the city as most of them were stationed near the Sealord's Palace and Purple Harbour.

"Send word to Elric, tell him to intercept the enemy ships in the South as they would most probably come to check because of the sound. Also, tell him to move the ships to the North and capture the Arsenal and the Titan after an hour." I told one of the captains near me and then turned to Lord Bolton, Lord Royce and Lord Dustin. "Lord Bolton, Lord Dustin, Lord Royce, you know what to do. Can I trust you to complete your task?"

Three of them nodded their heads and began ordering their men. The rest of us advanced towards the Canal of Heroes. The resistance of the guards was weak at first but when we arrived at the bridge, we saw a barricade with heavy infantry behind it.

However, we had something they didn't know existed; giants. One of them moved towards the bridge with slow steps but as soon as they saw him coming, the enemy rained arrows upon him. The arrows bounced upon his thick steel armour but he was incensed. He grabbed his spiked hammer and ran towards the bridge with all his might.

The enemy was not expecting this and when they saw a giant creature running towards them, some of them turned around and escaped. This created a chain reaction amongst their ranks. One by one they began escaping even before the giant reached and when he did, only a young man remained there and he was shaking intensely.

The giant kicked him and the young man flew into the air and crashed onto the second floor of a building. My men rushed to the bridge and quickly passed to the other side. I slowly walked with the other nobles as our men slaughtered the enemy.

The resistance of the enemy was getting stronger each second as men were rushing from the other parts of the city. It was time for us to get into the fray and bolster the morale of our soldiers.

I pulled out my greatsword from its sheath and yelled, "My lords, let us show these cunts what it means to be a real man!!!"

I heard the roars of the nobles and, particularly, Lord Umber's was louder. They followed my lead as I charged towards the enemy. I raised my sword and hacked a man from his face to his crotch. His blood spilt on my face as I blocked a blow coming from my side but before I could counter-attack, he was slain by the laughing Lord Umber. I looked to the far side of the street and saw reinforcements coming for the enemy.

However, the reinforcements stopped at their place when they saw the giants amongst us. I looked at my wolfsguards who were circling me and ordered them to charge in and leave no one alive.

They followed my lead and we charged with a giant by our side. The giant was faster and he quickly closed the gap between the enemy and himself. He swung his great spiked club and several men flew to the air. However, two of them were stabbed by the spikes and were dangling from his club.

The giant picked them with his hand and threw their corpses to the side and continued its slaughter. They were real war machines and I bet, even modern tanks would have a hard time defeating them.

Soon after we reached them, the ground dyed with the enemies' blood. My men's expertise with the sword was known throughout the North and now, our enemies were going to learn it too.

I slashed my sword and another enemy went down in agony. The enemy was constantly falling back and our soldiers were killing them like mindless beasts and it did not take long for us to reach the gates of the Iron Bank.

Lord Brynden and Lord Glover quickly separated from the army and began their tasks. I even gave several giants to Lord Brynden so there would be no mishaps. Meanwhile, my men surrounded the Iron Bank but we did not need to do anything as a representative came out in simple clothes.

I quickly checked his status screen if there was anything wrong or if he was a faceless man but there wasn't anything wrong. He was a key member of the bank and told us that the Iron Bank will remain neutral in this conflict and they won't meddle in our affairs as long as the bank is not harmed.

Of course, I didn't raise trouble and offered them protection during the liberation of Braavos from its tyrants and they agreed grudgingly. I didn't want them to plot anything while we were attacking Sealord's Palace so I ordered several of my men and one of the giants to stay and "guard" the Iron Bank.

As we closed onto the Sealord's Palace, barred gates and high walls greeted us but they were not going to stop us because I ordered the giants to bring out their special steel tools. They pulled out their enormous pickaxes and began hitting the walls with them. At first, there were only some cracks but later, the crack grew and the wall fell apart. In just a few minutes, Sealord's Palace was open to us and the soldiers rushed in.

Honestly, this was the hardest part of the invasion as the real palace of the Sealord was separated from the main island by a bridge. The bridge was the best choke point I ever saw, my men were literally dying every second so I ordered my wolfsguards to break the wooden gate at all cost.

The wolfsguards were the only force I had that would not retreat until death and they were my only hope for now. The giants were too big to get into the palace so they were outside, waiting for our return and crushing the other enemies.

After ten minutes, more than a hundred of them were killed but the gates were opened and the wolfsguards were attacking with the flames of revenge in their eyes for their brothers. Water dancers, sellswords, guards… every one of them fell to their swords and the doors of the real palace laid naked to our eyes.

My men charged into the palace to take their share of blood. I grabbed one of the maids that were trying to escape and spoke with my broken Valyrian and asked her where the Sealord was. She pointed towards the farthest room in the corridor and told me that he was there.

I fling her away and one of the common soldiers grabbed her. She was going to live her worst fears today but this was the way of the war and I did not intend to change it. They fought for their lord and they were going to receive whatever they demanded.

Lord Umber, Lord Renly, Lord Hornwood and some other small lords followed me inside. Our pace was quick but our steps were firm. We entered through the great doors and an empty hall greeted us. Only two men were there and one of them was standing on feet while the other was sitting on a grand chair at the end of the hall.

The man who was sitting on the grand chair rose to his feet when he saw us coming in and gave out a big smile like he was greeting his greatest friend, "Lord Stark, welcome… welcome to our humble palace!"

I didn't respond and just watched him with others but while doing that I was looking at their status screen.

[Name: Syrio Forel

Diplomacy: 12

Martial: 23

Stewardship: 5

Intrigue: 3

Learning: 11

Opinion Score: -65]

I remembered this one from my memories, he was the water dancer that trained Arya in canon. Unfortunately, his fate was going to be sealed here but what surprised me was the identity of the other man. He should have been a rich merchant or a prominent citizen as the Sealord but things were different from what I had expected.

[Name: ????

Diplomacy: 25

Martial: 32

Stewardship: 20

Intrigue: 19

Learning: 27

Opinion Score: -97]

A faceless man as the Sealord? That was not something I was expecting. As far as I know, the Sealord's name was Ferrego Antoryon. He should have been a noble from the Antoryon family, not a faceless man.

The first sword of the Sealord, Syrio Forel, pulled out his sword and descended from the stair and walked towards us with his sword at hand. Lord Hornwood and Lord Umber snorted and pulled out their swords.

Every First Sword was chosen for their observation skills, not for their strength and compared to my vassals who were expert at using swords like the proper nobles, he was nothing. To be honest, he was going to force them but he was not going to be in too much trouble. And, indeed, after a minute of exchange, the First Sword fell to the ground with a sword stabbed to his throat.

Now, only the "Sealord" was left and he was still smiling like a crazy man. Some of my noble vassals attempted to move towards him but I stopped them, lest he does something to them.

"I thought Braavos was a Free City? Is it the Faceless Man who rules the city?" I asked.

The eyes of the nobles beside me grew wide and they looked at me questioningly. Likewise, the faceless man was also surprised but his surprise was only for a moment as he regained his laughing face again.

"Ah, Lord Stark. I have so many things to ask you but, unfortunately, you won't be able to answer anything." Suddenly, several men came out of the shadows. I quickly looked at their status screen and realized that every one of them was faceless men.

Fuck… this was not a fight we could win and already, the doors of the hall were closed and the faceless men were encircling us.

"I always liked seeing laughing faces and your cold, indifferent face will be a good addition to my collection. Why do you think my pleasure barge is decorated with laughing faces? The fools think they are fake decorations but they didn't realize they were all real faces. However, you don't need to worry because all of your deaths will be swift and your lands will be in good hands like your faces." The faceless men smirked.

Only then did I realize, this was a trap all along. They were aiming to replace us and pulled us to them. I played with their hands… I should have brought some wolfsguards with me as with them, I could have had a chance of survival.

While everyone was feeling the dread on our body, I remembered the upgrade of my system. Maybe if I redistribute all of my attribute points to the martial attribute points, I could have a chance of winning this fight.

However, I needed time so while everyone readied themselves for a fight to the death, I looked at the faceless men who were posing as the Sealord and opened my status screen.

"Since you say we are all going to die, why don't you explain what happened to the Sealord?" I asked as I quickly redistributed my attribute points.

[Host: Eddard Stark

Diplomacy: 0 (-27) [+/-]

Martial: 162 (+122) [+/-]

Stewardship: 0 (-34) [+/-]

Intrigue: 0 (-24) [+/-]

Learning: 0 (-32) [+/-]

Fertility: %0 (-%50) [+/-]

Remaining Attribute Points: 0

Remaining Trait Points: 6]

"Hahaha, why should I explain anything to a dead man?" He waved his hand and the faceless men slowly advanced upon us.

I felt a surge of strength inside me but it was something new as I never experienced something like this before. My muscles were filled with strength to the brim and I was able to sense a flying knife coming towards the back of my head.

This was a real cheat an MC should have and I was just realizing it. I quickly spun into action and dodged the knife and slashed my sword towards one of the faceless men who was advancing upon the naked back of Lord Hornwood. He was caught off guard and fell to the ground stiffly.

I turned around and saw one of the faceless men stab Greatjon from his shoulder so I jumped forward and kicked the faceless man from his side. He was surprised at my swiftness but before he could do anything I swung my sword and cut his head.

There were only two faceless men left and they were retreating towards the fake Sealord. There was a frown on the fake Sealord's face, finally. However, the other lords were also looking at me weirdly as I just killed two faceless men.

I wore a cold face and slowly advanced upon them with my Valyrian steel sword. The three faceless men looked at each other and then attacked me from three sides. Meanwhile, Lord Umber tried to intercept one of the faceless men but he was quickly kicked by his wounded shoulder and fell to the ground.

I turned to the fake Sealord and saw the faceless man coming towards me so I also ran towards him and rolled on the ground as he swung his sword. When I stood up, the three faceless men were standing before me and behind them were the other noble lords. They were trapped on both sides.

As the lords advanced upon the faceless men, I attacked with great caution but the movements of the faceless men were slow in my eyes. I slashed my sword but the fake Sealord dodged it and counterattacked with a swing of his own short sword.

I backed away and kicked his stomach. He was not wearing any armour and that was my advantage because he held his stomach with one of his hands and taking advantage of this, I raised my sword and slashed downwards. He blocked my attack by raising his sword with his left hand but I didn't stop and repeatedly struck down.

He fell to his knees and with each of my strikes, he was losing his grip on his short blade and finally, his sword fell to the ground and I didn't spare any thought and slashed my sword and cut his face. He fell to the ground so I raised my sword for the last time and stabbed his skull and killed him.

I turned to look at the remaining faceless men and realized one of them was already down but three of the small nobles were killed doing so. The remaining faceless man was wounded from his chest and he was retreating against the strikes of Lord Renly.

Finally, another lord stabbed the faceless man from behind and Lord Renly slit his throat with a sword strike.

I climbed the steps towards the great seat of the Sealord and threw myself on it. I quickly redistributed my attribute points just like before and then looked to the scene before me.

I began to cackle like a crazy man as the lords looked at me like I was mad…. Did I just kill three faceless men?